[Matthew Attoe]

Hi,

Now that the new G5's have PCIe (I think that's what it's called) video cards will there be any new AGP video cards in the future?

I've currently got a 6800 Ultra, but hope it's not the video card I'll have to stick with for the next 4 or 5 years.

So, does anyone know of any forthcoming AGP video cards that would be worth upgrading to because they will be significantly faster than what I already have?

Many thanks in advance for both your time and advice,

Matthew

[voo]

I think thats the last NVIDIA AGP card, even on the PC NVIDIA haven't came out with a new card for AGP, 7800 and newer is all PCI-E.

There hasn't even been any rumours of any new AGP cards from NVIDIA, ATI is also doing the same iirc but its lower models from ATI there won't be any high end models for AGP again.

[2009059]

how bad is the 6800 ultra Matthew? I just bought one off ebay. Please tell me I won't be dissapointed!

[voo]

6800 is a powerful card.

[mduell]

I doubt we'll see any faster Mac AGP cards than the 6800U/X850XT. None of the companies that build graphics cards around ATi and nVidias chips have shown interest in creating AGP versions of the new high end cards (7800, 7600, X1800, X1600).

If you don't want to live with your 6800U for 4-5 years, punt your PowerMac in 2-3 years and buy a new one.

[Cadaver]

As already said, there is unlikely to be any faster AGP cards available for the PC or the Mac. All of nvidia's and ATI's high-end parts are native PCIe products and would require a bridge chip (which adds extra $$) to use in an AGP system. I doubt that, at least for now, there will be any significantly faster AGP parts made.

AGP has essentially been EOL'd (end-of-life). Which means PC and Mac users with AGP slots are SOL'd.

I have a home-built AMD Athlon XP 3200+ PC (w/ a 256MB factory-overclocked GeForce 6800GT), and if I wanted to move to a PCIe-based video card, I'd have to replace the motherboard and processor (since none of PCIe-based motherboards will accept a Socket-A processor). Which basically means upgrading to a new $400 graphics card would cost me $750 or more.

Even upgrading just the processor would mean a new motherboard (and thus a new PCIe-based video card), too, since there are no faster AMD socket-A processors. No more PC upgrades for me without a major rebuild (and major $$).

So PC users aren't in any better of a position.

[voo]

Yep and since SocketA AMD has changed their socket 3-4 times now 754, 940, 939 and iirc theres another one due for DDR2.

Seriously though a 6800/GT/Ultra and x800/x850 series is quite serious horse power, but sure the 7800 and x1800 are even faster which is quite natural for newer hardware but you really cannot keep up in this game unless you fork out lots of $$$ every 4 to 8 months to try and stay on top.

[Mac Write]

I am looking to get a Radeon 9800 Pro Mac 256MB for my MDD as the last upgrade (excluding more space as needed of course). I thought that was the best ATI AGP 4x compatable card you can get. Is the X850XT AGp 8X only, or could ATI bring out the X850XT as a "for all systems"?

[Matthew Attoe]

Hi,

Many thanks for all taking the time to reply.

Looks like I'm stuck with the Ultra until the Rev B Intel Macs. Oh well, never mind!

Originally Posted by 2009059

how bad is the 6800 ultra Matthew? I just bought one off ebay. Please tell me I won't be dissapointed!

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the Ultra at the moment, but it's obviously going to "appear" to get slower as new apps and games are released in the coming years. I'm sure you'll be happy with your purchase.

Thanks again,

Matthew

[Todd Madson]

Your choices are ATI X850 XT or GeForce 6800. 6800 takes two slots. I'm told even
the X800 competes well with the 6800 so the X850 might be what you want.

At last look, the X850 was only available as a build-to-order option with the last
generation of G5s thru the online store.

I still maintain the 6800 or X800 would be a good deal, possibly the 850 could be
even better.

And then there's the overclocking option using Aticcelerator for the ATI cards.